Who St. Anthony M. Zaccaria is for you?

1. How has Saint Anthony Mary Zaccaria been an inspiration to you?

Saint Anthony Zaccaria has been an inspiration by his extraordinary embrace of patience despite many obstacles. He was quoted as saying, “No one can come close to God unless he willingly practices patience in many tribulations."

2. What is the spiritual message St. Anthony Zaccaria proclaims? How did he proclaim it, e.g., by witness, practice, verbal or written proclamation?

Saint Anthony Zaccaria's message is that his followers have the capacity to become great saints. They need to give back to Jesus Crucified the good qualities and graces that He has given to them. He manifested this in the way he lived his life and proclaimed it in verbal and written form.

3. What are the dates and times Saint Anthony Zaccaria lived?

What influenced them to be charged with living the gospel of Jesus Christ?Saint Anthony Zaccaria was born in Cremona, Italy in 1502 and died there in 1539. After several years of caring for people's bodies as a physician, Saint Anthony felt a greater urge to care for their souls.
Genuine love for his fellowman influenced him to be charged with living the gospel of Jesus Christ as a priest.

4. Did Saint Anthony Zaccaria start a religious order or foundation or create many followers?

Saint Anthony Zaccaria was the founder of three religious groups; Clerics Regular of St. Paul known as The Barnabites (priests), The Angelic Sisters of Saint Paul (nuns) and The Laity of Saint Paul.

5. What is the '"take home message" you want us to remember about Saint Anthony Zaccaria so that his spirituality now becomes a part of our spirituality?

Saint Anthony Zaccaria held Jesus Christ in the forefront of his mind. He never wavered in this regard. Like Christ, Saint Anthony Zaccaria with his love and compassion lived to ease the burdens of those less fortunate.

________

written by Ms. Fran Stahlecker

A Daily Lesson in Holiness of St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria on FERVOR - July

On FERVOR

July 1
The good and holy fervor is, the fire of the Father, the splendor of the Son, and the flame of the Holy Spirit.

July 2

Because it is His gift, without great fervor no one will ever become great in front of God.

July 3

Authentic spiritual fervor consists in a vigorous and continuous reform of the mind toward good.

July 4

Fervor is a stimulus for any perfection, an increase of good will, a confirmation of holy resolutions and stable perseverance.

July 5

Fervor is in the mind’s eye, through which one concentrates exclusively on the sincere honor of God while dismissing everything else.

July 6

Fervor leads to the observance of all divine precepts and counsels, not only those which are known but also those which can be surmised.

July 7

Out of love of God, fervor makes the hate of oneself [one’s self diminish] grow beyond any measure. This is why it exterminates all passions, like a very strong army formation.

July 8

The Devil saw the formation of the fervent and became afraid at the sight, because he was forced, against his will, to always bring it new crowns.

July 9

True fervor always grows in prosperity as in adversity. It grows in consolations as in desolations.

July 10

Fervor does not know any way or measure, since it always believes to have done nothing. It always looks at what has to be done and the more it gains, the more it desires.

July 11

Fervor wants to know God through the virtues of the heart in order to advance to the order of the Seraphims.July 12 The fervent are situated at the highest degree of freedom. They pity those who lack fervor.

July 13

Fervor leads toward an active, noble and contemplative life, without omitting those things needed for each state.

July 14

Those who complain because God does not give them fervor, add blasphemy to their lack of proper disposition.

July 15

Rid yourself of what is contrary to fervor, like distractions of the mind and pleasures of the senses. God will then ignite fervor in you.

July 16

When fervor becomes perfect it sometimes seems to loosen up, but actually it has not diminished, rather it has transcended into a delightful habit.

July 17

When goodwill and firm resolutions remain steadfast, do not be sad even though fervor seems to be dead. Although the sensible fervor may have failed, it cannot be dead.

July 18

Fervor starts as a gift from God, is kept through a firm resolution, and must never stop during this life.

July 19

An indecisive person loses fervor and becomes lukewarm.

July 20

Acquire stability and fervent perseverance in spiritual matters so that you may never again way between fervor and tepidity, but rather may enjoy a steady and holy fervor, nourished by life-giving water and enriched by new vigor.

July 21

Retain selfsame fervor both when the Superior is present and when he is absent and also when you deal with others exactly as you would with your Superior.

July 22

Fervor leads toward an active, noble and contemplative life, without omitting those things needed for each state.

July 23

I hope to grow in Jesus' love; and the good Lord crucified will give me back the spiritual light and fervor, which used to keep me spiritually alive.

July 24

Never allow yourself to be entangled in imaginations and dreams while praying, and also never abandon prayer should you feel no sensible fervor, but rather renounce the latter if it came upon you, and consider yourself unworthy of it.

July 25

One thing is exterior fervor and devotion, and quite another is interior fervor and true devotion. And that is why you should know that God very often for your own good takes away this exterior fervor and devotion that you may understand that this is not within your own power, but God's gift, and thus you may humble yourself more and more.

July 26

Authentic spiritual fervor consists in a vigorous and continuous reform of the mind toward good.
July 27

Those who complain because God does not give them fervor, add blasphemy to their lack of proper disposition.

July 28

The good and holy fervor is, the fire of the Father, the splendor of the Son, and the flame of the Holy Spirit.

July 29

True fervor always grows in prosperity as in adversity. It grows in consolations as in desolations.
July 30

Rid yourself of what is contrary to fervor, like distractions of the mind and pleasures of the senses. God will then ignite fervor in you.

July 31

Fervor starts as a gift from God, is kept through a firm resolution, and must never stop during this life.

by late Fr. Louis Peter Bonardi, CRSP (a Barnabite)

The Forty Hours' Devotion or more commonly known as the Forty Hours, is a definite form of divine worship of the Blessed Sacrament in the Catholic Church. This form of worship is effected by the Holy Eucharist being solemnly exposed for adoration for forty hours in memory of the period of time Christ's Body lay in the tomb, and for the purpose of making reparation. The founder or institutor is the person responsible for starting this particular devotion.

The Forty Hours' Devotion presents a process of successive developments throughout the ages. From very simple and almost private beginnings, all of a sudden this devotion assumed a solemn and resplendent form of worship universally accepted.

In the first part of the Sixteenth Century and up to the Council of Trent, it was not an era in which the spirit dominated over matter. The Renaissance had awakened the people but it also had a corrupting influence on their morals. What marked the religious decadence in these years was the culmination of evil customs and abuses of the preceding centuries. All sorts of abuses were prevalent even in churches with practices unbecoming to divine worship. The Holy Eucharist the glory and the most treasured possession of the church was the subject of profanity, irreverence, and indignities, As a result, Christ in the Eucharist was exiled from His churches and relegated to obscure corners of sacristies. It was evident that in order to reform the Christian people, the churches had to be restored to their former splendor of the house of prayer; the Blessed Sacrament had to be returned to its church and take a prominent place in it, and the people had to be brought back to Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

It is the Forty Hours' Devotion which really became the means of accomplishing this. A Eucharist devotion under such name was established back in the Twelfth Century in the city of Zara. It was Pope Alexander III who gave his approbation and granted an indulgence for this pious practice. Mention of Prayer of the Forty Hours was made in Milan In 1527 and again in 1529. The Forty Hours' Devotion as we know it today in the Catholic Church did not start until 1537, and this took place in Milan, Italy.

St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria is the founder of the Forty Hours' Devotion. In his zeal for the salvation of souls, St. Anthony Mary had already founded two religious orders, one of Priests, the Bamabite Fathers, and one of Nuns, the Angelics Sisters of St. Paul. Devotion to Christ Crucified and Christ in the Blessed Sacrament was the double-edged sword which the Saint employed in combating the enemies of the Church of that century. Before he became a Priest, he was a Doctor of Medicine. His medical experience helped him to put his finger on the sore spot of the society of his day which was a conspicuous lack of Eucharistic life among the people. To obviate this critical situation, he plunged into a great sea of activity. In 1539, when only thirty-six years of age St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria died of sheer exhaustion, obedient to the common of St. Paul never to spare oneself when the glory of God and the salvation of souls are involved.

Some sources refer to the Forty Hours as having been started in 1534 in Milan by a Cremonese hermit Fra Bono. Documentary evidence, however, points to the year 1537 as the most probable. In regard to Fra Bono, it has been ascertained that he was what one might call the right hand of St. Anthony Mary in establishing this devotion and in preparing the churches to receive it.

In that same year of 1537, there was in Milan a Capuchin Father who was famous for his preaching and holiness of life, Father Joseph Piantanida de Femo. The Capuchin sources testify that Father da Femo seeing the distress of the city because of wars promised peace from God while preaching if the Milanese people would take over the Forty Hours’ Devotion for one year.
This testimony, although not lacking altogether in authority, contradicts the

Bamabite tradition and the testimony of an eye witness of the events of the year 1537. The Capuchin tradition was codified almost half a century after the narrated facts. By then, the Forty Hours had been accepted in most of Italy through the merits principally of Capuchin Fathers. The fact that Father Joseph da Femo was the first Capuchin to promote the Forty Hours in his missions helped to confuse the issue.

The tradition of the Capuchin Fathers rests absolutely with Father Joseph da Femo to the exclusion of any other concerning the founder of the Forty Hours. On the contrary, the tradition of the Barnabite Fathers in the institution of the Forty Hours is for the founder of their Order at the exclusion of anyone else. The Barnabite and the Capuchin traditions can be somewhat reconciled in the light of the testimony of Gianmarco Burigozzo, the Milanese merchant, who witnessed and left a written narrative of the beginning of the Forty Hours' Devotion in 1537. It
is, therefore concluded that St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria with his first followers is the founder of the Forty Hours' Devotion. He exposed the Eucharist with solemnity without the use of veils and richly adorned it with tapestries, lights and flowers. He proposed and obtained that each church of the city take up in turns the Forty Hours' Devotion. Probably, the Saint would not have had such a great response from the people if the preacher of the Cathedral, Father Joseph de Femo, had not recommended in his fervor and zeal the practice to the faithful.

At the present stage of study, the following represents the conclusions of the problem. Father Joseph da Femo is the first promoter of this devotion throughout Italy and the greatest in accomplishments. St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria is the founder of the Forty Hours' Devotion as it is know today in the Catholic Church, that is, a solemn and public exposition of Blessed Sacrament observed in all of the Catholic Churches.

______

NOTE:

Abstract from theses “The Origin of the Forty Hours Devotion and its Modern Founder” Presented by Fr. Louis Peter Bonardi, CRSP to Niagara University, 1961).

Day 9- For Brotherly Love

Let us run like madmen not only toward God but also toward our neighbors,

who alone can be the recipients of what we cannot give to God,

since He has no need of our goods.

(St. A. Zaccaria, Letter to B.Ferrari and G. Morigia)

A reading from the second Letter of St. Paul to the Galatians (Gal 2:15-21)

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments, "Do not commit adultery," "Do not murder," "Do not steal," "Do not covet," and whatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

A reading from the forth Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

You wish to know how to acquire the love of God as well as to find out whether it is in you? One and the same thing helps you acquire, expand, and increase it more and more, and reveals it as well when it is present. Can you guess what it is? It is love ―the love of your neighbor.
God is a long way from our direct experience; God is spirit (John 4:24); God works in an invisible fashion. Thus, His spiritual activity cannot be seen except with the eyes of the mind and of the spirit, which in most people are blind, and in all are wavering and no longer accustomed to seeing. But man is approachable, man is body; and when we do something to him, the deed is seen. Now, since He has no need of our things, whereas man does, God has set man as a testing ground for us. In fact, if you have a friend very dear to you, you will also hold dear those things he loves and cherishes. Therefore, since God holds man in great esteem, as He has shown, you would show meanness and indeed little love for God, if you did not think very highly of what He bought at a great price.


Invocations
Saint Anthony, man gentle and humane …Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Man burning with charity…Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Man ruthless against vices…Pray for us

Prayer
Eternal Father, you love everyone and want everyone to be saved, grant that we do find you and love you in our brothers and sisters so that they too, through me, may find you. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 8- For Holiness

You have decided to give yourselves to Christ and I desire that you do not fall victims to lukewarmness, but rather that you grow more and more fervent.

(St. A. Zaccaria , Letter to Mr. Bernardo Omodei and Madonna Laura)

A reading from the second Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Rom 12:1-2)

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

A reading from the letter of St. Anthony Zaccaria to the Bernardo Omodei and Madonna Laura

Anyone willing to become a spiritual person begins a series of surgical operations in his soul. One day he removes this, another day he removes that, and relentlessly proceeds until he lays aside his old self. Let me explain. First of all, he eliminates offensive words, then useless ones, and finally speaks of nothing else but of edifying things. He eradicates angry words and gestures and finally adopts meek and humble manners. He shuns honors and, when they are given to him, not only is he not interiorly pleased, but he also welcomes insults and humiliations, and even rejoices in them. He not only knows how to abstain from the marital act, but, aiming at increasing in himself the beauty and merits of chastity, he also renounces anything smacking of sensuality. He is not content to spend one or two hours in prayer but loves to raise his mind to Christ frequently. (…)
What I do say is: I would like you to be intent on doing more every day and on eliminating every day even licit sensual inclinations. All this is, indeed, for the sake of willing to grow in perfection, of diminishing imperfections, and of avoiding the danger of falling prey to lukewarmness.
Do not think that my love for you or the good qualities you are endowed with, may have me desire that you be just little saints. No, I greatly desire that you become great saints, since you are well equipped to reach this goal, if you will it. All that is required is that you really mean to develop and give back to Jesus Crucified, in a more refined form, the good qualities and graces He has given you.

Invocations
Saint Anthony, angel in flesh and bones …… Pray for us.
Saint Anthony, youth grown as a lily … … Pray for us.
Saint Anthony, rich man stripped of everything …… Pray for us.

Prayer
Holy Father, you predestined us to be holy and without blame in your presence, enlighten our hearts so that we may know the hope of my vocation. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 7 – For Love of God

“What is necessary, yes, I emphasize, necessary, is to have love

―the love of God, the love that makes you pleasing to Him”

(St Anthony Mary Zaccaria, Sermon IV)

A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Romans (Rom 8:35-38)

What will separate us from the love of Christ? Will anguish, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or the sword? As it is written: For your sake we are being slain all the day; we are looked upon as sheep to be slaughtered. No, in all these things we conquer overwhelmingly through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.

A reading from the forth Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

“Who could go through so many dangers, hardships, troubles and afflictions, if he were not uplifted by love? No one. What traveler, no matter how light-footed and prudent, could walk on so narrow and so rough a road without getting some delight? What lover, deeply infatuated with his beloved, could ever leave her, were it not for another one? Could we, then, drunk with visible and ever present things -- and necessary things, besides -- give up loving them, were it not for a greater love compelling us to do so? No way!
… Consider what a great love is demanded of us: a love that can be none other but the love of God. … How happy good Christians are as they find themselves free from any attachment, for on account of this.

Invocations
Saint Anthony, True friend of God…Pray for us
Saint Anthony, True lover of Christ…Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Friend and herald of the Holy Spirit…Pray for us

Prayer
All merciful Father, you so loved the world that you gave your only begotten Son for the forgiveness of sin, through His Holy Blood sanctify me in love. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN

Day 6 – For Wisdom

O Wisdom above all wisdom! O inaccessible Light! You turn the learned into ignorant, and those who see into blind; and, on the contrary, you turn the ignorant into learned.

(St A. Zaccaria Sermon I)

A reading from the second Letter of St. Paul to the Corinthians (2 Cor 2:6-16)

We do, however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. However, as it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him” but God has revealed it to us by his Spirit.

The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man's spirit within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words. The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. The spiritual man makes judgments about all things.

A reading from the fist Sermon of St. Anthony Zaccaria

He knew how to arrange creatures in that admirable order that you see. Notice that, in his Providence, God leads man, created free, in such a way as to force and compel him to enter that order; yet without forcing or compelling him to do so.
O Wisdom above all wisdom! O inaccessible Light! You turn the learned into ignorant, and those who see into blind; and, on the contrary, you turn the ignorant into learned, and the peasants and the fishermen into scholars and teachers. Therefore, my friends, how can you believe that God, the very apex of wisdom, may have been wanting in resourcefulness and unable to accomplish His work? Don't believe that.

Invocations
Saint Anthony, enlightened by the sublime science of Jesus Christ …Pray for us
Saint Anthony, Man inspired by the sublime wisdom of Jesus Christ… Pray for us
Saint Anthony, wise educator of the people of God … Pray for us

Prayer
All powerful Father, you sent your Son so that through Him we might call ourselves and truly be your children, grant unto me the gift of wisdom to know the mystery of your will. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Our Father, Hail Mary, and Glory be...

Prayer to St. Anthony Mary Zaccaria

Saint Anthony Zaccaria, helper of the poor and the sick, you who devoted your life to our spiritual welfare, listen to my humble and hopeful prayer. Continue your work as doctor and priest by obtaining from GOD healing from my physical and moral sickness, so that free from all evil and sin, I may love the LORD with joy, fulfill with fidelity my duties, work generously for the good of my brothers and sisters, and for my sanctification. AMEN